Cadence beats Q1 estimates, promotes exec

SAN FRANCISCO—EDA vendor Cadence Design Systems Inc. Wednesday (April 27) reported sales and earnings for its fiscal first quarter that exceeded consensus analyst expectations and announced the promotion of one EDA veteran to replace another that is leaving the company.

Cadence (San Jose, Calif.) reported first quarter revenue of $266 million, up 6 percent from the previous quarter and up 20 percent from the year-ago period. Cadence reported a net income in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $6 million, or 2 cents per share, compared with GAAP net losses in both the previous and year-ago quarters.

On a non-GAAP basis, excluding charges, Cadence posted a first quarter net income of $23 million, or 9 cents per share, up 3 percent from the previous quarter and nearly four times the non-GAAP net income of $6 million that the company reported in the year-ago quarter.

"Our execution has been extraordinary," said Geoff Ribar, Cadence senior vice president and chief financial officer, in an interview following the company's quarterly report."We continue to beat expectations—ours and the Street's."

A consensus of analysts had pegged Cadence's sales for the quarter at about $260 million and the company's non-GAAP earnings at 8 cents per share, according to Yahoo Finance.

"The strategy is working," Ribar said. "The execution is working." Ribar added that Cadence met or exceeded expectations for all key operating metrics in the quarter.

Asked to highlight any particular product areas of success in the quarter, Ribar said performance was strong across the board, but added that demand for Cadence's Verification Computing Platform was particularly strong.

"Demand was strong for our products and services across all regions in the first quarter," said Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence president and CEO, in a statement. "Demand for the Cadence Verification Computing Platform continued to be strong. We also introduced the industry's first complete DDR4 memory controller solution, and saw strong renewals and increasing run rates in our Silicon Realization products."

Cadence also announced that Charlie Huang, currently senior vice president and chief strategy officer, has been appointed senior vice president, worldwide field operations, effective immediately. Tom Cooley, who previously held that role, is leaving the company, Cadence said.

Huang, a former partner at Telos Venture Partners, has been with Cadence since 2001.

For the current quarter, Cadence said it expects total revenue to grow to between $270 million and $280 million. Second quarter GAAP net income per diluted share is expected to be in the range of 4 to 6 cents, Cadence said. Non-GAAP net income per diluted share is expected to be in the range of 9 to 11 cents, Cadence said.

Consensus analysts' expectations had pegged Cadence's current quarter revenue at $260.3 million, according to Yahoo Finance.